Nursing Care
by nalimom
Summary: Sam is recovering from an injury, with Jack's help
1. Chapter 1

"Sir, I really don't need you to stay." Sam Carter said from her spot on the couch.

"Yes you do, Carter." He stood up, walked to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water and two pills. He handed them to her and watched as she took the medication. "It was the only way the doc would let you come home, remember?"

"I know, but we don't have to tell her."

O'Neill smiled and shook his head.

"First Daniel, now you. I don't need a babysitter."

"Daniel told me you were a difficult patient."

"Did he?"

"Actually he told me you were a pain in the ass and that he was glad he had to get on a plane to Egypt."

"Really?" She asked with an annoyed look on her face.

O'Neill just shrugged and smiled.

"It's just a shoulder. I can take care of myself."

"Carter, you have staff burns and reconstructed shoulder. You should still be in a hospital bed." He looked at her bandaged shoulder and the harness immobilizing her arm. "I'm going to follow Dr Lee's instructions." The conviction in his voice was unmistakable. When he looked into her eyes, she was startled by the emotion she saw there.

She smiled. "Thanks for looking out for me. Even if it is unnecessary."

As the days passed, Carter stopped resisting O'Neill's help. In fact they settled into a strange domestic existence which was very comfortable. He knew how she took her coffee and her favorite snacks. They started enjoying the same shows on television. O'Neill had an uncanny knack for knowing when she had overdone it and needed to rest, even when she denied it.

"Come on, Carter." He said as he arose off the couch. "You need to go to bed." He held his hand out to her. She hesitantly reached for it and allowed him to help her to her feet.

"I'm fine, Sir."

"You're pale, like you get when you're pretending you're not hurting."

She smiled weakly and allowed him to steer her to the bedroom. She sat on the bed and he knelt down to remove her slippers.

"You lie down and I am going to get the ice pack." He said in a soft voice. "Do you need help?" He smiled up at her.

"I can handle getting changed." She laughed. "Can you just loosen the sling for me?"

"You bet." He replied, gently wrapping his arms around her to unfasten the Velcro holding her arm in place.

She couldn't be positive, but she could have sworn he had paused to smell her hair. "Thanks." She said very softly.

"Your wish is my command." His eyes held hers for just a split second longer than he would normally allow. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I mean it, Sir. Thanks."

Sam managed to clumsily change into sleep pants and a t-shirt and got under the covers of her bed. She heard Jack O'Neill moving around in her kitchen. She smiled at the thought of him brewing her some herbal tea to help her sleep. She had never asked even once, but every night as she settled in before he headed home, he had brought her the tea along with her medication and often an ice pack. It had quickly become her favorite part of the day. She heard a soft knock on the door.

"Come in, Sir."

He handed her the pain medication and antibiotics and a glass of water. He watched her swallow the medications and he set her tea on the nightstand.

"Colonel, I know tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I'll be fine if there is somewhere you need to be." Sam volunteered.

"SG-1 is inactive until my members are healed or back in the country and… there is nobody else in the world I would rather be with." It was such a simple statement, but containing so much meaning. "I can honestly say that there is nowhere else in the universe I would rather be." They were silent for a moment. "Now lie back and let me get this ice where it can do you some good."

She rested her head against the pillow, wincing as he placed the pack over the bandage.

"I'm sorry." He walked to the bathroom and brought a small towel back to the bed. "This should help." He lifted the ice and spread the towel gently over the surface of the bandage, then placing the ice back where it belonged. "Better?" He asked as he leaned over to pull the covers over top of the ice.

Impulsively, Carter reached her good hand up, placing her palm against the back of his neck and she pressed her lips to his. She expected him to pull back in surprise, but instead he kissed her back, clasping his hands in her hair.

"Stay here with me." She whispered against his mouth.

"I shouldn't." His tongue brushed hers as he claimed her mouth again.

"I know." Her teeth grazing his bottom lip. "Does that mean you won't."

He looked into her eyes and kissed her forehead. He shook his head and kissed her softly. He climbed onto the bed and spooned up next to her, his lips brushing her ear. "All you ever had to do was ask."

"As simple as that?" She asked as she soaked in the warmth radiating from him.

"As simple as that." He kissed the top of her head. "Why don't you get some rest?"

She met his eyes. "Because I am a little worried that if I go to sleep, you'll be gone when I wake up." She smiled. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"I know I'm old and I have my moments, but I'm pretty sure I would have remembered sleeping next to you." He gently stroked her cheek.

She laughed. "There have been… dreams."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Girls do that?"

She smiled and nestled herself closer to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam awoke to Jack nuzzling his nose into her hair. She felt his breath on her neck and wished that her shoulder wasn't immobilized so she could turn on her side and spoon closer. She settled for resting her head against his, sighing with pleasure.

"When can we discuss those 'dreams'?" Jack mumbled sleepily into her ear as his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"The ones where you leave?"

"Nope." He opened his eyes and looked into hers. "I only want to talk about the ones where I wake up next to you… after seeing you naked."

She laughed out loud. "As soon as I can undress myself without any help."

"But I'll help. I really want to help." He kissed her. It was a soft, gentle kiss, but lingered. When their lips parted, he rested his forehead against hers. "I want to help a lot."

"I think you've made that clear." She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of him. Her good hand came up to stroke the scruffy skin of his cheek. He buried his face in her neck. Sam was overcome with the rawness of his emotion as he held her. "I love you, Jack." She had wanted to say it forever. The words had been on her lips so many times, not allowed to escape for fear of court martial, or worse, rejection. All those fears were so inconsequential now as she felt him against her. She kissed his graying hair and filled herself with his scent.

"Can you say that again?" He said, hardly above a whisper.

"I love you, Jack." She repeated.

"Now will you pinch me? You pick the spot." He looked into her eyes.

"Can't you be serious for a minute." Her eyes dropped from his gaze as waves of uncertainty threatened to overtake her.

He gently urged her chin upward with his finger. "Look at me, Carter." She did. "I love you." He whispered as his lips claimed hers in a kiss rapt with emotion.

"Jack." She sighed as she melted into his kiss, allowing the sensations to overtake all doubt or reason. Her hand caressed his back, fingertips digging slightly into his flesh. He moaned and kissed her neck and her collarbone. He paused and ran his fingers along the edge of the bandage on her shoulder.

"When you were shot…" he began, the pain in his voice obvious. "I couldn't…"

"I know." She placed a finger on her lips. "Believe me."

He kissed the finger and closed his eyes as she traced his mouth. He thought of the number of times she had sat next to his bed in the infirmary and begged him not to give up. He had accepted the symbiote he had once carried simply because she had asked him to. He had survived on more than one occasion by borrowing her desire for him to live. Her pleads gave him strength. When had she become his reason to live? He asked himself. The fact was that she had and he was lying here with her, feeling her body against his. He wrapped his arms around her and took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to clear the memory of a gravely wounded Carter lying on the ground.

"Jack," she said softly as she kissed his neck, stopping with her lips nearly touching his ear. "We're here." Her lips brushed his ear. "We're safe." Another brush. "We're relatively sound." She nipped his earlobe, feeling him tense and hearing his gasp. "Let's take advantage." Her mouth went to work on his neck.

His moaned deep in his chest as his hand touched the skin of her stomach. Hers quickened as his fingers slid under her shirt and touched the underside of her breast. He held her gaze as he lightly brushed her nipple.

"Oh, yes." She moaned again.

Jack lifted her shirt and replaced his fingers with his lips, his tongue tantalizing her. He took his time undressing her and kissing every newly uncovered inch. He savored the feel of her skin and the way she tasted, like heaven. "God, I love you." He confessed again as he entered her, slowly, moaning her name.

She closed her eyes and arched against him, wanting nothing more than to feel him; feel them, together.

"I don't want to hurt you." Jack whispered, looking at her shoulder.

"I'm fine." She kissed him deeply, her tongue tasting his. "Please, don't stop."

They finished together, a short time later and Jack collapsed against her, still careful to avoid her shoulder. "Um, wow." He panted.

"Yeah." She replied, out of breath.

"How did the reality compare to your dreams?"

She laughed and ran her hand down his back, stopping on his lower back. "Dreams, for sure."

"What?" He asked with a smile.

She squeezed his ass as she kissed him.


	3. Chapter 3

When Sam next opened her eyes, it was to find herself alone in the bedroom. She winced as she sat up, her shoulder throbbing, her injury aggravated by the intensity of her earlier activity. She smiled as she placed her hand over her bandage. Her logical mind knew that they should have waited until she was healed a bit more before they made love, but the past several years had completely exhausted her stockpile of self control.

She got out of bed and slowly dressed herself. "Jack?" She called as she opened the door. No answer. She walked through the house looking for him, finding a note instead, next to a glass of juice and her morning medication.

_Carter,_

_Be back soon._

_I love you._

She picked up the paper and stared at the words, her heart fluttering in her chest. She knew she had heard him say it, but seeing his handwriting was reassuring. She ran her finger across the words "I love you" feeling warmth spread through her, starting at her fingertip. He loved her. Even with her shoulder reconstructed and strapped to her torso, she could not remember a happier moment in her life. She swallowed her pills and went to get cleaned up before returned.

"Look what I found." Jack hollered as he came through the front door.

Sam came out of her bedroom, her hair wet from her sponge bath. "I thought you'd never get back." She stopped short when she saw Janet and Cassandra coming through the door behind him. "Hey guys!" She recovered quickly, giving each of them a one-armed hug.

"We thought we would check on you before we head out of town." Janet replied as she hugged her friend. "I want to see that shoulder."

"Where are you lovely ladies headed?" Jack asked, wrapping his arm around Cassie's shoulders.

"Skiing." The teen replied with a big smile. "I can't wait."

"You ski?" He asked.

"She's a natural." Janet said with pride. "Looks like she was born on the slopes."

"Did they have slopes on your home world?" He asked with a wise-ass grin.

"No." She replied in a voice only a teenaged girl could manage.

Janet and Sam excused themselves to the bedroom where the bandage could be removed and the wound examined.

"This looks a bit inflamed." Janet said as she applied antibiotic ointment. "I know I told you to take it easy. What have you been doing? Push ups?"

Sam worked hard not to blush. "A girl has to stay in shape." She said with a smile.

Janet rolled her eyes and reached for the bandage material. "I'm used to all of you ignoring my advice, but I will say it again anyway." She said with a sigh. "I want you to sit on the couch and watch It's a Wonderful Life."

"OK."

"And when you are done with that, I want you to lie on the couch and wait for Santa. Get it?"

"I get it."

Janet gave her a doubtful look but let it drop. "Is the Colonel is taking his nurse duties seriously."

"Too seriously." Sam tried to seem annoyed. "He's really a pain in the butt."

"Good. I'll order him to keep up the good work." She turned to leave the room, not seeing the poorly hidden grin on Sam's face.

Janet and Cassandra said their good-byes and they all wished each other Merry Christmas and as they watched their friends drive away, Jack put his arm around Sam's waist. He kissed her head and they walked into the living room.

"What did Janet say about your shoulder?"

"She said I was not resting it enough. Wanted to know what I had been doing to irritate it." She gave him a sly smile as she sat on the couch.

"And you said?" He asked, sitting next to her and wrapping his arms around her.

"I was vague and evasive." She rested her head against his chest and sighed. "A taste of things to come."

"What do you mean?" He looked at her, seeing the tension in her face.

"When we are back on active duty," she began, "We won't be able to be…like this. And we'll have to lie to everyone."

"We'll have to be careful... and we lie to people all the time. It comes with the gig." He touched her cheek.

"But…"

"We'll figure it out, Carter." He kissed her. "Well, you'll probably figure it out. You're way smarter than me."

She laughed, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Hey," he kissed her softly. "It will be OK."

"I don't want to go back to the way we were before."

"That can't happen." His hands slid over the silky skin of her back.

She closed her eyes and sighed, loving the feel of his skin against hers. She slid into his lap and kissed him deeply, her teeth grazing his bottom lip.

He moaned. "Not with this genie out of the bottle." His hands slid down to her ass and pulled her firmly against his lap. As Sam kissed his neck he dropped his head back against the couch and moaned even louder.

"I can't get enough of you." She whispered against his throat, her tongue tasting him.

"Feel free to take all you need." He tried to joke as his hand cupped her breast.

She took him up on his offer.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam looked up from her computer as Jack set a cup of tea in front of her.

"Thought you might need some rehydration." He said as he kissed the top of her head as she sipped her tea.

"That's thoughtful of you." She touched his arm and softly pulled him to her. He bent down and kissed her softly.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "You shouldn't be working. You're on sick leave… and it's Christmas." He looked over her shoulder at the computer screen and understood none of the equations he saw there.

"I just didn't want to wake you. You looked so peaceful there on the couch."

"I wasn't sleeping. I was resting my eyes."

"I could tell by the snoring." She smiled her most wicked smile.

"You're a barrel of monkeys there, Carter."

She winked at him.

"So I had an idea." He said as he brushed a stray wisp of hair from her forehead.

"Oh?" She sat back in her chair.

"Why don't we go into town for the parade and stuff?"

She loved how his eyes sparkled. "Do you think that's wise? We could be seen."

"So we're seen. I am supposed to be on nurse duty. If we see anyone from the base, we'll just say that you needed some fresh air."

"I don't know."

"Come on, Carter." He sat on the desk and bent down until they were face to face, his eyes locked onto hers and his lips just inches from hers. "It's Christmas."

"So you keep reminding me." She couldn't help sharing his excitement, it was contagious. "I don't remember you being this excited about it before."

"It's been a while since I had a reason."

Her entire body seemed to heat up as his lips touched hers.

"OK." She said with a wide smile. "I should probably go put some clothes on, huh?" She stood, intending to go to her bedroom, but Jack pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her briefly the hugged her as closely as he could manage.

"God, I love the feel of you." His hands stroked her back tenderly over the t-shirt she was wearing. "You're like fresh air to me." He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply.

"You'd better stop that or we're never going to get out of this house." She pulled away a little bit, placing her hands against his muscular chest and stroking him seductively.

"You're right." He stood up and reluctantly removed his hands from her body, but not before letting them stray to her behind, which was clad only in her underwear. He gave her a gentle spank as she turned to leave. "Go. Hurry. Before I change my mind."

She gave him a quick look and left the room. As Jack watched her go, he felt a rush a pure happiness. He had known how attracted to Carter he had been sin he'd met her. It hadn't taken long for him to realize that his feelings were much more than physical attraction.

"Jack." She called from the bedroom, bringing him back to the present.

He had never loved his name until he heard it said in her voice. He walked to her doorway and leaned against the frame. "You're beautiful." He said softly as he took her in, loving the way the pale blue sweater she was wearing set off her eyes.

"Thanks." She smiled at him, looking uncomfortable with the compliment. She had spent most of her adult life in uniform, surrounded by men. Being a woman was something she had tried to downplay for so long, it felt really good to have Jack looking at her like this. In spite of her wounded shoulder and her pale skin and the faint circles which had been lingering under her eyes since the injury, he made her feel beautiful. "Can you help me with the sling?"

"You bet." He approached slowly, his eyes taking her in. "It would be my distinct pleasure." He tenderly touched her shoulder and ran his hand down her arm. "How does it feel?"

Sam shrugged. "Sore." She winced a little as she moved her arm. "But not too bad."

"I'm sorry." He said softly as he applied the sling and tightened the Velcro strap securing her arm against her body. As he fastened the last strap, he kissed her forehead, allowing his lips to linger there. "I hate that you're in pain."

"I know." He closed his eyes and melted into the hand she placed on his cheek.

"I love you, Carter." He said as he kissed her palm.

"You do?" She asked with her voice choked with emotion.

"Oh, yeah." He replied.

A short time later, Jack pulled his truck into a parking space and walked around to help Sam out.

"Thanks." She smiled at him, unconsciously looking around them to see if anyone was watching. As they walked toward the center of town, the distance between them seemed unnatural. Even though their hands hung at their sides, just inches apart, she longed to close the distance and touch him. She smiled.

"What?" he asked.

"What what?"

"What are you thinking about?" He pressed.

"Just thinking that this is our first date."

He smiled at her, his eyes sparkling. "I guess it is." He barely brushed her hand with his, reading her mind. "Although traditionally the first date occurs before all the nakedness."

Sam laughed out loud. "Since when do we have a traditional relationship?"

It was his turn to laugh. "You got that right."

They watched the parade and browsed the shops in the quaint town center before ducking into a café for a bite to eat and a cup of hot coffee. Jack held her chair for her, risking a soft touch to her back as she sat. She looked up at him, the desire to touch him in return barely under control.

"Thank you, Sir." The 'sir' was painful, but it was important to maintain the illusion.

He closed his eyes at the word, feeling as though cold water had splashed over him, jolting him back from a wonderful dream. "Sure, Carter." He managed to say as he sat across from her. He had nearly taken the seat next to her, but didn't think he could keep from touching her if he were that close. "This sucks." He whispered.

"Yes, Sir."

"Can I think about you sitting there naked while you eat your sandwich?"

"Sure." She made a confused look. "You know that's weird, right?"

"Yup."

"And creepy."

"Just look at the menu, Carter."

"Yes, Sir."


	5. Chapter 5

The moment they were back in the truck, Jack reached for Sam's hand. He ran his thumb over skin in gentle circles. "If I had to go another minute without touching you, I was going to go nuts."

She squeezed her fingers around his. "A taste of things to come."

"Don't, Carter." He looked at her with an urgency that surprised her. "Please."

She smiled weakly. "Let's go home, Jack."

"You got it."

They passed the drive in silence, both very thoughtful; neither willing to voice their thoughts about how difficult their future would be.

As her front door closed behind the two of them, Sam backed Jack against the wall and kissed him, desperately needing to connect. "I love you, Jack." She hugged him close to her and held him as tightly as her one arm would allow.

"Hey." He said softly. "Hey. I love you too. It will be OK." He kissed her. "We'll figure it out."

"Promise?"

"We don't have a choice."

"That's true."

He took her hand in his and led her toward the couch. "Come in here and let's forget everything but the now… and Santa Claus."

She sat next to him, his arm around her and her head on his chest as he turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. He settled on an old Christmas movie and kissed her forehead.

"Wait a minute. Here, lean forward a minute." He removed the pillows from the couch and lay down, motioning for her to spoon up with him. "This is how we should spend Christmas Eve," He kissed her neck and wrapped his arms around her.

"This is perfect."

A short time later, she fell asleep in his arms.

"Hey." Jack touched her cheek softly. "Time for your medicine."

Sam opened her eyes and looked sleepily up at him. "Hey."

"You should really eat something too." He knelt down in front of her. "Want me to bring you something in here?"

"No." She sat up. "I'll come in there with you."

They stood up together and he put his arm around her as they walked into the kitchen. Sam stopped short as she looked at the table, which he had set with her best dishes.

"I'm glad you decided to join me in here." He pulled her chair out for her. "I don't think this would have been as impressive on a TV tray."

"No." She agreed. "Is there food that goes with this glorious table?"

"Of course." He handed her a few pills and filled her glass with water. "I made you a specialty of mine."

"I don't have any beer. Isn't that the secret ingredient in all you special dishes?"

"I had to modify the recipe a little bit, but I think it will be ok." He smiled the smile that gave her butterflies in her stomach.

"I can't wait." She kissed him, a slow lingering kiss. When she finished, he stood there, eyes closed, enjoying the sensation.

"You're going to kill me." He said when he regained the ability to speak. "It will be a very pleasant way to go, but you're going to kill me."

"Better get your strength up." She said as she sat down. "What's for dinner?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." He kissed her neck and walked to the counter with her plate. He brought it back with a pork chop, applesauce, rice and peas. "I hope you don't mind. I rummaged through your cabinets."

"If this is going to be the result, you can rummage through anything you want." She took a bite of the chop and smiled. "Where did you learn to cook?"

"I've been on my own for a long time." He brought his own plate to the table and sat next to her. "A man's gotta eat."

"This is delicious." She reached out with her leg and touched his.

"Good."

When they had finished dinner, Jack suggested they go back to the living room to watch some more TV. Just as Sam got comfortable, he excused himself to get something from his truck. When he returned, Sam had two gifts sitting on the coffee table.

"What's all this?" He asked as he took his coat off and hung it on the coat rack.

"Santa came while you were out."

"I miss all the fun." He sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"Open the big one first."

He clapped his hands together and picked up the gift, shaking it like an excited child. He tore the wrapping furiously. "Sweet!" He exclaimed holding up a collector's set of Simpsons DVDs. "Excellent." He said in his best Mr. Burns voice.

"You like it?" She asked, knowing the answer.

"Are you kidding?" He hugged her. "I love it." He kissed her.

"Open the other one."

"If you insist." He snatched it up, smiling broadly. He opened the package, then looked up at Sam. "Carter," he shook his head, "How did you know?"

She shrugged.

"You were being held by two Jaffa and had just been beaten senseless when mine got lost." He said very softly as he his mind wandered back to the past. A smile crossed his face as he remembered Carter taking out three Jaffa before being captured. He had only managed two. In the skirmish, the knife he had carried since basic training had been lost. Once they had been rescued, he had tried to find it, but to no avail.

"I know it's not yours but I found another one like it." She said quietly.

"They don't make these anymore." He took the knife out of its case and turned it over in his hands, loving the way it felt in his hand, like an old friend. "How did you get your hands on this?"

"It took a while." She confessed, taking it from him and looking at it. "There aren't many of them left."

He watched her for a moment. "I love you, Carter." He was so overwhelmed with emotion that he had trouble finding his voice. He leaned over and kissed her, slowly and with all the passion he felt surrounding them. He hugged her tightly against him and buried his face in her neck. "I don't deserve you." He whispered.

"You deserve everything you ever wanted." She replied, her lips pressed against his ear.

He shook his head.

"You deserve to be happy."

He looked deeply into her stormy blue eyes. "You make me happy."

She smiled.

"Marry me, Carter."

"Jack…"

"I mean it." He cut her off. "I have never been happier than I am now and I want… this…forever. Marry me."

"We can't." She said with tears forming in her eyes.

"Why not?"

"Sneaking around as lovers is one thing…" she began, placing her hand against his cheek. "but if we get married…we can't hide that. There's the license…"

"Carter," he interrupted, sounding very frustrated. "I know you're right." He covered her hand with his and kissed her palm. He again looked into her eyes, brushing away the tears which had begun to fall. "Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes." She confessed breathlessly, more tears falling. "Damn it, Jack…"

"I know." He held her close. "I could retire."

"No you can't. What you do is too important. It should be me"

"You're much more important than I am. You and your amazing brain." He stroked her hair.

"So if neither of us can retire, what do we do?" She asked against his chest.

"I guess for now we sneak around." He replied, kissing her head and burying his nose in her hair. "This sucks." He finally lifted his head and said, "I guess we go to plan B."

"What's plan B?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

"You agree to marry me and we wait until it's… legal."

"That could be years."

"So we have a long engagement." He said with a grin.

She looked at him for a long time before saying, "Ask me again."

His smile got bigger. "Wait here." He hurried to his coat and took a small box from his coat pocket. He knelt in front of a smiling, teary-eyed, Samantha Carter and opened it to reveal an antique gold pendant with a diamond mounted in its center. "Carter, will you marry me at some undisclosed future date."

"Yes." She reached out and touched the pendant. It was elegant and understated and something she would have picked out for herself. "Yes." She repeated in a whisper.

"I know it's not a ring," he began, "but you can wear this all the time without attracting too much attention." He took it out of the box and placed it around her neck. "I confess that I hadn't planned on this when I bought it. I just thought it would look pretty on you."

"I love you, Jack." She said as she kissed him deeply, climbing into his lap.


	6. Chapter 6

Months had passed since their Christmas together and Jack and Sam had been able to see very little of each other outside of Stargate Command. They took advantage of stolen moments anywhere they could but mainly had to be satisfied with longing looks and "accidental" touches. They had spent more time off world than on, allowing no opportunities for stolen evenings or even dinner as "colleagues" in Colorado Springs.

They sat at the conference room table off of General Hammond's office, briefing the general on their most recent mission. Teal'c drank from an enormous coffee cup and tried to look interested while Daniel described what they had learned from the tablets they had unearthed in an underground vault. Sam looked over at Jack, whose eyes were looking a little glazed over. She brushed his foot with hers, causing him focus, on her. They had a very creative, silent conversation while the meeting went on, culminating in Jack needing to excuse himself to keep from being discovered. He went to the rest room and cleared his mind of images which should not come into his head at top level security briefings. When he returned, Sam was smiling slyly in his direction. He gave her a steely, yet lighthearted glare and took his seat.

"Sorry about that, General."

"No problem. We're just about done here anyway." General Hammond replied. "I'll expect your reports on my desk this afternoon, then I don't want to see any of you on base for seven days."

"Sir," Sam began. "I was hoping to do some tests on the device SG-7 brought back from PX2773."

"Negative. None of you have had any R and R in months." He stood. "Go somewhere and rest. That's an order."

"Yes, Sir." She made a good show of acting disappointed and carefully avoided looking Jack in the eye. If she had, she was pretty sure the look on her face would make it impossible to keep their plans a secret.

Jack headed for the elevator to the surface, dressed in his street clothes and carrying his backpack. He poked his head in Daniel's office, finding Daniel and Sam engrossed in conversation.

"See ya in a week, suckers." He said with a grin.

"Bye, Sir." Sam replied. "Have a nice leave."

"Going fishing?" Daniel asked.

"Yup."

"Headed to you cabin?"

"Not this time." Jack sat on the corner of the desk. "Buddy of mine told me about a place a few hours from here. Won't waste any good fishing time with driving across country."

Sam smiled. "Good thinking. Definitely want to take full advantage of every second when recreation time is so hard to come by. Are you fly-fishing?"

"Yup."

"A lot of skill involved. Really have to take your time to get it right." Her eyes sparkled as she watched Jack fight not to react to her innuendo.

"Makes for much bigger rewards." He winked. "Very satisfying."

"Sam and I are going to hit the steakhouse in town tonight. Do you want to join us? Or are you heading out now?"

"Thanks, Daniel. As much as I love a good hunk of meat, I plan on being ass deep in a stream by dinnertime."

"Your loss."

"Next time." Jack replied as he stood and walked to the door. He chanced a look back at Sam and smiled at her.

After dinner, Sam's car pulled up in front of Daniel's apartment building.

"Thanks for the ride." Daniel smiled at her. "Want a cup of coffee?"

"Thanks, but I can't. I have a really early flight tomorrow."

"Where are you headed?"

"Going to visit my brother."

"Great." He climbed out of the car. "Have a good time. See you next week."

"Yeah, thanks."

Sam pulled away from the curb and, instead of heading for her house, she headed in the opposite direction, driving toward the mountain cabin Jack had rented for the week. It was very late when she finally turned onto the dirt road that led to the cabin, yet somehow she hadn't had the smallest problem staying away during the drive. Her heart rate quickened as her headlights lit up the front door to reveal Jack, leaning against the side. She parked quickly and got out of the car.

"You'd better get out of here. My fiancé will be here in the morning." He said as he approached her.

Sam didn't even try to think of a witty response. Instead she hugged him tightly. "I didn't want to wait until tomorrow." She kissed him, allowing the passion, which had been repressed for so long, to take over.

Jack's hands grasped handfuls of her sweater as he clutched her to him.

"I missed you." Sam whispered against his mouth.

"Same here." He admitted, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her into the cabin.

"So is the rest of this place as nice as the bedroom?" Sam asked as she looked at the hand carved mantle above the roaring fire.

"Oh, no." he kissed her neck. "It's terrible. You should never leave this room." Jack replied, toying with the pendant he had given her for Christmas.

Sam laughed and rolled over so she was facing him. "Never?"

"Well, not for a while." He nuzzled his face into her neck as he rolled on top of her, kissing her neck and her chest. "A long, long while…" His hands caressed her hungrily.

Sam closed her eyes and sighed contentedly as he kissed his way across her belly. "Mmmm… that feels so good."

He kissed his way back to her mouth and whispered, "Only 'good'?" He kissed her deeply. "I'll have to try harder."

She gasped as he kept his word.

"Is there any food in this place?" Sam asked as she walked up behind Jack in the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his neck. "I'm starving."

"I stocked up on the way out here yesterday." He placed his hand over hers as he stirred a cup of coffee with the other one. "In case we didn't feel like leaving the cabin."

"Oh?" she asked in a sultry voice.

He shrugged. "Just covering all the bases." He turned in her arms until they were face to face. He kissed her lightly. "What are you hungry for?"

She picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Since when do you take cream and sugar?"

"I don't. I was making it for you." He smiled his most charming smile.

She touched his face. "Thanks."

"So what are you hungry for?" he repeated.

"Just food at the moment."

"Oh, thank god." He said with a sigh of relief. "I'm not as young as I use to be." He winked at her.

Sam laughed out loud. "You hide it well." She kissed him and walked to the fridge.


End file.
